Full Time
Tottenham beat ten-man Crystal Palace 2-0 in Matchweek 9, Archie Gray heading them in front from a Mohammed Kudus corner in the 25th minute. Palace were already a man down by then: Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off around the 13th minute after VAR upgraded a heavy challenge on Micky van de Ven to red. Spurs then had most of the ball and a mountain of shots, and a second finally arrived from another corner in the 73rd minute, going in off a scramble around Dean Henderson's goal. That lifts Tottenham to 13 points from nine games, while Palace stay on 8 and are now properly looking over their shoulders. It was less a match than a long attacking practice session.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Spurs are 8th on 10 points after eight games, with two wins, four draws and two defeats. That is mid-table with a lot of shrugging. Palace are 16th on 8 points, one point clear of the bottom three, so a loss here has them looking over their shoulder. Neither side can treat this as a free hit.
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2Spurs won the last league meeting of 2025 1-0 at Selhurst Park, and they lead the all-time series, with 38 wins and 15 draws by one count. Palace have plenty of ground to make up. If a Palace fan tells you the record means nothing, nod politely.
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3Keep an eye on Jean-Philippe Mateta if he starts for Palace. He is a striker who can turn one half-chance into a goal, which matters for a team whose defence has leaked 18 goals in eight games. The question is whether he gets any service. Check he is actually in the line-up before you say anything clever about him.
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4The subplot is Palace's defence. Eighteen goals conceded in eight games and a goal difference of minus 8 is the worst in the division. Spurs have scored only 10 themselves, so this is a leaky defence meeting an attack that is not exactly on fire. We could not find confirmed team sheets or late injury news this morning, so check the line-ups an hour before kick-off.
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5The hook is how tight the table is. Spurs are 8th but only three points off 5th, and Palace are only a point above the drop zone. A win for either side moves them a long way in one evening. It is a 5.30pm kick-off, so you can watch it and still make dinner.
Team Talking Points
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1Spurs lost 1-0 at Leeds last Saturday. Noah Okafor came off the bench and scored 11 minutes from the end. It ended a decent run for Tottenham, and it ended Leeds' five-game winless streak, which made it even more annoying.
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2Manager Roberto De Zerbi lost his temper over a second-half booking for Pedro Porro and got booked himself. That earns him a one-game touchline ban, so he'll be stuck in the stands for the first game back, at home to Ipswich on Saturday 21 November.
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3De Zerbi is the permanent boss after a busy spell in the dugout. Thomas Frank was sacked and Igor Tudor had a short interim stint before De Zerbi arrived. Spurs fans have had a lot of new names to learn.
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4Fan reaction to Leeds has been grumpy. Some supporters' sites have criticised De Zerbi's tactics, and there's been chat about Porro's form and Mohammed Kudus being left isolated out on the right wing. Mention Kudus looking lonely and you'll sound like you watched the whole 90 minutes.
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5To be fair, it was only their second league defeat in eight games, so this isn't a crisis. Just don't tell that to a Spurs fan the week after losing at Elland Road.
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Top thing to say down the pub
De Zerbi's going to be watching the Ipswich game from the stands, which is probably the calmest he'll be all season.
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Avoid saying
"Typical Spurs." Fans have heard it from every rival since about 1961, and it hits harder after a late defeat at Leeds. You'll get an eye-roll and a lecture about the Europa League trophy.
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1Palace go into the international break bottom of the Premier League after a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. Eddie Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty was a consolation, not a comeback. Being bottom in November isn't fatal, but it is the sort of thing fans prefer you don't mention first.
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2Manager Pierre Sage is under serious pressure, and the reports this week say his time could be up. Former Brentford and Spurs boss Thomas Frank is the bookies' favourite to replace him, with The Telegraph naming him as the frontrunner. Nothing's official yet, so 'I hear Frank's in the frame' sounds well-informed, while 'Sage has gone' might be a bit premature.
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3This slump has been building. A 5-0 hammering by Brighton a few weeks ago is the result Palace fans really don't want to relive, mostly because it was Brighton, their fiercest rivals. If you bring it up, expect a long stare.
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4There were glimmers against Liverpool. Jørgen Strand Larsen had a goal chalked off for offside by VAR and Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar, so it wasn't a total surrender. Palace fans will tell you the margins have gone against them, and on Sunday they had a point.
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5Don't forget this is the club that won the FA Cup in 2025, their first major trophy ever. Going from Wembley glory to the bottom of the table in about 18 months is a very Premier League kind of whiplash. Mention the Cup win and you'll cheer up any Palace fan instantly.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Whoever ends up in the Palace dugout, the first job is just stopping the leaks. They're not as bad as the table says, but they're getting close.
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Avoid saying
"Just bring Roy Hodgson back again" — it's been said as a joke so many times that Palace fans have stopped laughing, and the man has done his bit for the club twice over already.